NDC abandons sick Kwabena Adjei

The immediate past national chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Kwabena Adjei, who is now seriously sick and is on admission at an unknown hospital in Accra, has been abandoned by the NDC hierarchy including the Presidency for no apparent reason, credible sources have hinted Today.

Though the cause of his sickness was immediately not known at the time of filing this report, a deep throat source told this paper that “it was due to his (Kwabena Adjei’s) excessive smoking and drinking and probably, the effects of the loss of his chairmanship position to former National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) Coordinator, Mr. Kofi Portuphy.”

The source said Dr. Kwabena Adjei is now broke and unable to pay his medical bills, a situation the source described as very “worrying and disturbing” since it was becoming a burden on his family.

According to the source, the financial woes of ‘Wayoo Wayo’ as he is affectionately called was as a result of a bank loan he contracted to fund his campaign to seek a third term bid during the last national delegates congress of the NDC.

However, Dr. Kwabena Adjei could not retain the chairmanship position as he lost to the then NADMO boss, Mr. Portuphy, who reportedly had the backing of President John Dramani Mahama, the leader of NDC.

That defeat, the source went on to reveal, dealt Dr Kwabena Adjei a deadly emotional and financial blow as he suddenly took to excessive drinking and smoking.

He also could not come to terms with the manner in which the party hierarchy and President Mahama abandoned him after his defeat and has since been grieving over the loss, the source opined.

The combined effects of the above, the source indicated, further compounded the already poor state of health of Dr. Kwabena Adjei, who is now over 70 years of age.

“Now the banks are on him for their money and if he doesn’t pay, they are going to auction his house which he used as collateral to offset the loan he took,” the source noted.

And whilst wondering about the reason for his neglect by the ruling party, the source alleged that it was due to his strong abhorrence of corruption and financial scandals which had rocked the NDC since the assumption of President Mahama in 2012.

Today’s investigations also revealed that the veteran politician who is noted for his famous “there are so many ways of killing a cat” statement incurred the wrath of President Mahama during that ill-fated national delegates congress in Kumasi in the Ashanti region where the latter accused President Mahama of supporting the current national chairman of the party.

That, Today understands, did not go down well with President Mahama, who vowed to deal “ruthlessly” with his one-time pal by cutting his source of income which was through some government contracts.

It would be recalled that in the run-up to the NDC’s national executive congress, Dr. Kwabena Adjei accused some contestants including Kofi Porturphy of using state resources (including money) to persuade delegates to vote for them.

And consequently he vowed to expose them when re-elected and that probably must have been, according to the source, reasons for his abandonment.

A presidential staffer who also agreed to speak to Today on condition of anonymity said it was “disheartening” the NDC has abandoned a man who served the party “faithfully and diligently” over the years.

The presidential staffer who was perplexed about the whole situation wondered what might have been Dr. Kwabena Adjei’s crime to warrant such treatment from the very people he laid down “his life for and helped to win power.”

“I now believe it when people say President Mahama is vindictive,” the presidential staffer stated.

The presidential staffer, therefore, prayed for Dr. Kwabena Adjei’s speedy recovery, fearing that “it would remain a blight on the conscience of the whole NDC party and President Mahama if he dies.”